'Occupy' protesters speak out at Paul campaign stop

KEENE, N.H. -- GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul told college students Monday he understands where they are coming from and is "very much involved in the 99" percent, after about a dozen Occupy Wall Street protesters spoke out at the end of his question-and-answer session at an evening campaign stop.

Approximately 15 students in a crowd of several hundred in a Keene State College auditorium stood up and began yelling as Paul awaited his final question from supporters this evening.

"We are the 99%! We will be heard! There are criminals on Wall Street who walk free, there are protesters in jail," they chanted. "There's something wrong with this system. We are the 99%! We will be heard!"

When the protesters finished, the Texas Congressman -- who smiled throughout their delivery -- leaned into the microphone and asked, "Do you feel better?" The audience erupted in cheers and applause.

"Let me address that for a minute, because if you listen carefully, I'm very much involved in the 99," Paul told the students. "We need to sort that out. But the people on Wall Street got the bailouts and you guys got stuck with the bills and I think that's where the problem is."

Paul is popular among college students in New Hampshire, a state where he enjoys 17 percent of support among likely Republican primary voters, according to a recent state-wide poll by Bloomberg News.